Au Cheval

Not worth the wait
Agh. I know I'm going to get a lot of heat for giving Au Cheval 3 stars, but to me, it was average.

Tuesday night and the wait for two was an hour. There are so many good places to eat in Chicago, so that is just ridiculous to me. It's such a small restaurant with limited seating so definitely plan ahead.

The honey fried chicken (~$18 & 5/5) - oh my god were these good. An enormous platter of chicken (easily feeds two) smothered in a sweet glaze. It is perfectly fried and immediately coated with the honey glaze that it keeps its crispness til the end. Yummmmmmmmm. Seriously, every bite was delicious.

Hash browns with duck gravy (1/5) - I'm not sure what prompted us to order such a thing but we barely touched it. Hash browns with duck sausage smothered in duck gravy. It didn't have the most flavor as every bite was overpowered with the not so fun melt in your mouth fat, very overwhelming as it coats your entire mouth. It was just not for us.

Fries - they're a side of fries for $6. Comes with some garlic aioli on the side which neither of us were biggest fans of.

Two vodka sodas, fries, and two entrees ran about $60 which wasn't bad. Service is really friendly and the kitchen is quick. The open kitchen concept is pretty cool too. Glad I experienced it, won't be back any time soon.

Loud music, fantastic food and decor I'd describe as "hip diner." I'm told there is always a wait (we waited 90 mins on a Thursday evening).

The place is a bit of an oddity - loud hardcore rap in the background while we read from a modernized French menu. And later they moved on to Pink Floyd...I think Pandora is playing tricks on them.

The bone marrow was good, just don't smell it - it has a distinctly recognizable earthy aroma that we had only smelled one other place before (something only adults would be familiar with)...but we kept on eating.

The fries with an egg and garlic aioli  and the cheeseburger are a must. We were full and still managed to polish off both...they are amazing!

They also have a Greek white wine whichvpairs nicely with the marrow.

Go. You will not be dissappointed!

Great place for a beer and a burger.. Better put an egg and bacon on that bad boy.  Only downfall would be the wait.. they tell you an hour or two and it only ends up being about 30 minutes.  Make sure to get here early!